The Dangers Of Eyeballing A Recipe

[Yob]

So after cracking the ***** with work and the 16 hr days Ive been putting in I took a mental health day to take some sadly overlooked tasks to hand..

Task 1: Bolltle the July Swap Beer - Check

Task 2: Run 15lt of PBW through the system, threw all the hoses, and misc equipment in the MT and added 15lt water and ran the HEX at 70c and then ran that off to the keggle.. Rinsed with water then ran 10lt of Starsan through the system for 10mins - check..

It then dawned on me that the system was set up and VERY clean... if only I had some grains... hold the phone.. I DO have some grains but no real recipe to do... fk it I will wing it h34r:

open first bottle of the day here...

was supposed to weigh out 2kg Pale and 2kg Pils with a touch of Wheat, carapils and L munich... erm.. eneded up weighing 4kg of each Pale and Pils and only really discovered it when the hopper filled up and I still had 2.5kg of grain in the bucket... dunno what I was thinking

No probs will just mill half of it and save the rest for the next brew session...

ended up with first runnings @ 1080 and final runnings @ 1010 which I was pretty damn happy with (Full Fly Sparge)

keeping with the whole eyeball thing I chucked 15g Magnum in @ 35mins, 30 Cascade @ 20 and 30g of (Half Half) Wai Itit and Rakau in @ 5 mins before Whirlpool

While all this was going on I realised I didnt have an empty cube

Swiftly ran off a cube to an empty FV and made a mad dash about the brewery cleaning the cube with a few spare mins till the end of Whirlpool. (Pitched Notto after it came up to temps a few hours later)

What did I learn? It's handy to have a recipe prepared before hand, but at the end of the day doesnt really matter, dealing with issues on the fly is actually quite fun.

Yob

 

[kdaust]

Chefs don't need recipes unless they want repeatability.

Good job.

 

[Truman42]

Well done mate you saved the brew thats the main thing..

Hope your "mental health" improves...

 

[Rob S]

Love it, would have been a fun brew, on the fly.

 

[drew9242]

I have been doing this quite a bit lately. With 2 kids running around your ankles it is hard to sit down and get a recipe sorted. Also living 400 ks away from a decent home brew shop means i have to deal with what ingridents i have. I know what style I want and go from their. I know what my system does and away we go. Repeating the same recipe is not that important to me. However I do write the grain, hops and times down just in case.

In fact I'm busy doing a on the fly brew at the moment.

4 kg marris otter
.15 kg caraaroma

20g super Styrian @ 60
20g super Styrian @ 20
30g Styrian goldings @ 0

Think I might get a starter of 1469 cranking for it aswell.

Edit: just remembered I used caraaroma instead of dark crystal.
**** I just realized I did a 45 min mash and Im now batch sparging. Oh well see how it turns out?

 

[Wolfy]

What did I learn? It's handy to have a recipe prepared before hand, but at the end of the day doesnt really matter, dealing with issues on the fly is actually quite fun.

Except you don't really know that until it's ready to drink, however I'm sure that 20L of beer should help improve your 'mental health'.

 

[manticle]

Chefs don't need recipes unless they want repeatability.

Good job.

Having worked as a chef, I would suggest that one of the main things a chef wants is repeatability. Check out any of the michelin starred chefs' recipes and they are anal to the nth degree.

A good cook (who may be or may have been a chef) does not need repeatability and a good homebrewer likewise. At home is different to professionally - presumably the same thing with most pro brewers.

Yob: Have done similar and would agree that working on the fly, problem solving etc is both useful and fun.

Get into it.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

I have been doing this quite a bit lately. With 2 kids running around your ankles it is hard to sit down and get a recipe sorted. .....

Got 3 myself (and another on the way) - I lock myself in my "office" (realistically the room where the kids dump all their crap, when they "clean" their room) for 5 minutes, tell them to go away, and punch in what I've got into brewmate and print.

I occasionally brew on the fly (or rock up to CB and order a base set of malt), but try to avoid it.

I understand lack of 'head space' when kids are running around.

Another thing I do, is in a few minutes sipping a cuppa at work, I'll punch it into brewmate (I installed it on my computer at work) and email it home/google doc it).

Helps if I rock up to the brew shop and can't remember, I just look it up on the phone.

Just a couple of things another time poor dad.

Goomba

 

[kdaust]

A good cook (who may be or may have been a chef) does not need repeatability and a good homebrewer likewise. At home is different to professionally - presumably the same thing with most pro brewers.

My point exactly. More eloquently put. Cheers.

 

[Pennywise]

Most likely be one of the best brews you've done and you will never ever be able to repeat it :lol:

Edit: Just read the rest of the replies, not saying you're a **** cook

 

[fergi]

So after cracking the ***** with work and the 16 hr days Ive been putting in I took a mental health day to take some sadly overlooked tasks to hand..

Task 1: Bolltle the July Swap Beer - Check

Task 2: Run 15lt of PBW through the system, threw all the hoses, and misc equipment in the MT and added 15lt water and ran the HEX at 70c and then ran that off to the keggle.. Rinsed with water then ran 10lt of Starsan through the system for 10mins - check..

It then dawned on me that the system was set up and VERY clean... if only I had some grains... hold the phone.. I DO have some grains but no real recipe to do... fk it I will wing it h34r:

open first bottle of the day here...

was supposed to weigh out 2kg Pale and 2kg Pils with a touch of Wheat, carapils and L munich... erm.. eneded up weighing 4kg of each Pale and Pils and only really discovered it when the hopper filled up and I still had 2.5kg of grain in the bucket... dunno what I was thinking

No probs will just mill half of it and save the rest for the next brew session...

ended up with first runnings @ 1080 and final runnings @ 1010 which I was pretty damn happy with (Full Fly Sparge)

keeping with the whole eyeball thing I chucked 15g Magnum in @ 35mins, 30 Cascade @ 20 and 30g of (Half Half) Wai Itit and Rakau in @ 5 mins before Whirlpool

While all this was going on I realised I didnt have an empty cube

Swiftly ran off a cube to an empty FV and made a mad dash about the brewery cleaning the cube with a few spare mins till the end of Whirlpool. (Pitched Notto after it came up to temps a few hours later)

What did I learn? It's handy to have a recipe prepared before hand, but at the end of the day doesnt really matter, dealing with issues on the fly is actually quite fun.

Yob

hi Yob.
what temp do you find nottingham to be best at for ales.
fergi

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

hi Yob.
what temp do you find nottingham to be best at for ales.
fergi

I know it wasn't directed at me, but I'll answer it.

I love it as a fauxlager - I've had it down to 12 and working (not as slow as a lager yeast at 9 degrees, but not as fast as it normally is).

However, I find 16 degrees is the sweet spot - quick, but not producing too many bad side effects.

18-21 if you like esters.

I now rehydrate if I use it 14 degrees or lower.

Goomba

 

[matt white]

"What did I learn? It's handy to have a recipe prepared before hand, but at the end of the day doesnt really matter, dealing with issues on the fly is actually quite fun."

I havent used a recipe in years. I wing all of mine. Cant be assed with all the paperwork, do enough of that at work.

That said I am pretty much an English or US Pale Ale type of guy........I think!!

Gil

 

[Yob]

hi Yob.
what temp do you find nottingham to be best at for ales.
fergi

17 is where I like it, goes off like a rocket especially if re-hydrated.. It's a great yeast and I always have one in the fridge to use for emergency's

@LRG - 12 ... hmmm.. next time round I might drop a few degrees

:icon_cheers: